THE ADVENTURES OF D & T: Came Down

The pictures posted here are from our townhouse we rented in Frederick County, Maryland around 2010-2011. All this happened after our heaviest snowstorm of the year came into the region and just unleashed on the D.C. area. I remember being trapped at my house for over four days because the drifts were so high and attempting to shovel snow when it is hard as a stonewall isn’t happening.

When the gutter came crashing down, my wife and I were inside the family room watching the news. We both just heard this loud crashing sound, like something hit the upper part of the house and slid down the siding. Both of us looked at each other trying to figure out what the hell happened, but it quickly dawned on us what it might’ve been. As I opened up the front door I could see part of the gutter hanging down and whatever snow and ice sickles that came down with it on the ground.

Other neighbors, and obviously our next door neighbors, heard the same sound we did and came to check in on us. I can’t remember the day it happened, but I remember talking to the rental management company and informing them of the situation. The issue wasn’t taken care of immediately, however, it took a several days before they could send anyone out to repair it. I’m just happy neither one of us were standing underneath the gutter or walking past when this thing decided it couldn’t hold the weight anymore. I can only imagine how that would’ve played out if one or both of us ended up in the hospital being stabbed by our gutter with sharp sickles hanging.

Of course, any of the heavy snow and ice that didn’t come crashing down on the initial incident, later came down at random times until the gutter was replaced. I remember at one point looking up as I walk under the awning and seeing at least six inches of the ice just protruding beyond the edge. The only good thing, the silver lining, out of this was that we didn’t have to pay for anything to be repaired. PMP Management was very happy with us as residents and treated the home like it was ours, which made the owners of the house much happier. Unfortunately, we had to move because the owners were moving back up north from Florida and wanted their house back.

This was by far the best placed we lived while being residents of the crab state, and if we ever had to move back south we would try to move back to the same area or just not move back and deal with our issues up here. My wife’s diagnosis with lupus was discovered while we were living here, and our roller-coaster ride with that immediately began. Our neighbors on both sides of us were just as friendly and we often helped each other out if we could. It was a very sad day when we left the house for the final time and found ourselves in an apartment complex in Laurel, Maryland. When we first moved to Laurel, it was a nicely run operation of the apartment complex and very quite. Once a familiar company purchased the complex, The Donaldson Group, everything went to shit. I will get more into that at a later post, but believe me when I tell you it was not as peaceful and respectful as it once was.

We loved this community and would take late night walks around the neighborhood and to our local WAWA store, which all together added to about five miles. I could walk around without having to have my weapon with me off-duty, and worry about people wanting to do harm just because they thought you was a target. Even if we never return we will never forget the memories, good and bad times we had in that house. Wasn’t too many communities like this one left and when you find one you stay! The management company was awesome and told us that they would rent to us again if we ever decided to come back. Even the great snow storm or snowmaggedon couldn’t derail us from having an awesome time! Just made us get a new gutter!